In February 2019, students from St. Hildegard Gymnasium in Ulm, Germany, accompanied Frau Maurer and Frau Strobel to the Comox Valley in Canada. When they arrived, there were many excited Canadians waiting to greet them at the airport with flowers and welcome signs.

On Monday, on the first week of the exchange, the German students and teachers immersed themselves in the culture G.P. Vanier Secondary. Many differences were noted right away (food in class, longer classes, phones in class, moving classes, what's taught in class, along with the non academic structure outside of classes). The next day, Mr. Young took the students and teachers from Ulm to the Courtenay and District Museum and Palaeontology Centre for a chance to discover more about the local geology and history of the Comox Valley and Vancouver Island.

Of course the day wouldn't have been complete without a truly Canadian afternoon snack, right?

The next day saw the German students and teachers head to Mount Washington Alpine Resort with Mr. Young for a morning session of snow shoeing followed by tubing in the afternoon. A light snowfall, some curious Whisky Jacks, and playful students made for a fun day on the mountain

On Thursday the students were back in school at Vanier and during the afternoon an Indigenous cultural presentation was offered by Daryle Mills (Cree and Lakota teachings) and Bryce Mercredi (Métis teachings). The end of the first week brought an excursion out to the west coast...